Over the past few months, and over several years, my reading interests have taken me to different facets of our national history, to what many would understand as alternative history of the country. I have been a keen student of history, especially financial history to understand how things move in markets and how over several decades of investing, the fundamental laws have been the same. It has helped me process information with a sense of sanity, and become a more informed investor.
We are also at a time in our history where as we move towards becoming a first world economy, there is a growing resurgence within ourselves to learn more about our past. It is more like a modern day inverse Renaissance taking place where the nation is becoming more self aware. What we were as a civilisation, as a society, as a country, as an economy and how we should be going forward is a constant engagement which is taking place and the growing awareness of the self is essential to combat the forced narratives we have been fed with over a long time.
Personally, the realisation that the leftist historians have done a lot of harm to our national psychic happened a long time ago. I however could not fully understand the depth of the rot which has set in. It is only recently when I came across a fantastic book by Omendra Ratnu on the history of Mewar that I sat down and took notice. How many of us realise that the first Arab invasion of India happened in 712 by Bin Qasim but the Sultanates only took roots in 1200s. It was a five centuries of resistance which has been whitewashed in all out text books and yes, the NCERT books ends the ancient period with the end of Gupta in North and Cholas in South and suddenly focus entirely on the Mughals. So the great civilisational contributions made by the Kings in ensuring sustenance of our national identity is never taught.
It was almost surreal to realise that Rawalpindi was named after the first ruler of Mewar, Bappa Rawal and it was not until the 13th century that the invaders had even went south of Vindhyas. Thus, there is a method in the madness when we must celebrate the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple or the Kashi Vishvanath or the Somnath or the Mahakaleshwar temple because it is because of centuries of resistance that these temples have managed to exist.
I would highly recommend most people to subscribe to a fantastic podcast on YouTube- Vaad, and binge watch some monumental sessions by Meenakshi Jain, Sandeep Balakrishna, and even by Kunal Verma and Anuj Dhar. The more you read the past, the better you understand the present and only then you can imagine the future you want to create.
Every great modern or ancient civilisation was or is based on a deep sense of pride on one’s heritage and values. The Chinese or the Americans will go out of their way to talk of their worldview to propagate their ideas of life and it is no doubt that they remain the two foremost powers. Even the Germans and the Russians harp on their past to assert themselves. Thus, it is essential that we first understand the great nation we always were and how first the invaders and then the British subjugated us culturally and psychologically to rule us. Post independence, the left wing narrative essentially ruled us as masters where we were taught to abhor of all things desi and be the brown masters who came to rule us. The hogwash in the name of non-violent freedom struggle is the prime example of what we were taught so that one set of rulers could continue to lord over us.
Why do I write this all today? I am telling you this so that you also take out time to learn a bit more about the great land we belong to and bet even bigger on India, the future leader of the world. In our lifetime, we will be the largest economy in the world and unless we learn from the past, especially the mistakes we did, we won’t be able to secure a great future for ourselves and future generations.
We are blessed to be a part of the generation which is living in a resurgent India. After five centuries of oppression, we will be the second and the largest economy in the world. It has come at a price. The price your and mine ancestors have paid with their blood. It was easy for them to have accepted the inevitable and give up- their way of life, their religion, their culture but they didn’t. There is not a single living civilisation which continues to exist post medieval crusades and modern colonisation in more or less the same form. We still revere the same gods as we did three thousand years ago. If you are still praying to Mahakaal, your ancestors have paid a huge price for this privilege you take for granted and criticise on Instagram to sound cool.
There is a reason why America is the biggest cultural force in the world. The largest companies still exist in US even though what’s happening to their elite universities is going to take them down in a generation or two.
If you have come this far, let me now tell you something. You are investing in a country which could not be subsided by invaders, colonisers and brown masters. We are the fifth largest economy and the fourth largest stock market despite of the left wing narratives. Imagine what we will become when you and I unleash our true potential and make this India the global power it truly has been for centuries. So if you think Nifty is topping out at 22k, imagine what will you say when Nifty touches 220k.
Bet big on India, bet on Indianness, bet on yourself.
PS- trivia time! What’s the biggest scam of modern India?
The Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb!
Life is all about Compounding! 